Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses (As Long As They’re Not Refugees!)
The Syrian Civil War has proven to be the most brutal conflict of the 21st century so far, causing the deaths of over a quarter of a million people and displacement of nearly 11 million people. Given America’s disdain for ISIS/ISIL and the Assad regime, it seems logical that America should extend an offer to harbor those who have survived the terrors of the Syrian Civil War. Unfortunately, many U.S. politicians disagree. Thirty governors have taken a hard stance against allowing Syrian refugees into their states. Back in November 2015, only 5 of the 17 presidential candidates supported allowing displaced civilians to resettle in America. Two of those five supported the resettlement of only Christians. Donald Trump, the most outspoken of all candidates we have seen this campaign season, is now the President Elect.The rhetoric of fear these politicians constructed surrounding the Syrian refugee crisis is nothing more than an attempted grab at political power; plenty of studies and analysis have shown conclusively that refugees pose no legitimate threat to America. What follows is a list of the more common concerns surrounding resettlement in America and a deconstruction of the arguments associated.
Where will they live?
America enacted its first official refugee admission program following World War II. Since then, the United States has accepted millions of refugees from around the world. In recent years, around 40 percent of all refugees admitted into the U.S. have resettled in Texas, California, New York, Arizona, Michigan, and Ohio. This question is usually asked with the implication that refugees are arbitrarily placed in the United States. It ignores the infrastructure that has been built over the last 60 years dedicated to intelligently placing refugees entering the country.
The federal government works with many different voluntary agencies, contracted by the state department, that consider a litany of factors when determining where in the U.S. to place a refugee. These factors include housing availability, potential for employment, any family already residing in America, and where the established refugee communities are around the country. The last factor in particular is a key element in the placement process. America has large, well established communities of refugees that assist the recently displaced. These communities often form Mutual Assistance Associations that “provide mutual aid, advice and support to others from the same ethnic, linguistic or national background,” thereby taking a lot of strain off of the government agencies who place and care for refugees.
2. Where’s the money coming from?
In 2015 the Office of Refugee Resettlement had a budget of $1.56 billion. At first glance that seems like a hefty chunk of tax revenue, but relative to the rest of federal discretionary spending it’s really not that much. One percent of discretionary spending is allocated to food and agriculture, which amounts to $13.1 billion. That means the federal budget for all refugee programs in the U.S. amounts to less than an eighth of a percent of total discretionary spending. The government services refugees utilize after resettlement are easily offset by the taxes they pay throughout their lives.
3. What about our homeless veterans? Why should some foreigner get a home and not the vets?
This argument is a false dichotomy. It presents the situation as though America is forced to choose between granting funding to refugees or granting funding to homeless veterans. There isn’t a magical scale a politician is sliding somewhere in D.C. that allocates funding one way or the other. America can, should, and does support both refugees and homeless veterans. Veteran benefits constitute 6% of discretionary spending. That’s nearly 42 times the amount of money allocated for the Office of Resettlement. Maybe a better question would be to ask why military spending is over half of the federal budget and veteran benefits are so poorly funded in comparison. Doesn’t it make more sense to divert funds from military spending to benefit those who served in the military?
4. What about the situation in Germany?
Some politicians have hammered on this point, perhaps none more outspoken than Donald Trump. Politifact investigated Trump’s claims of an increased German crime rate, and found that the large influx of refugees did contribute to a rising crime rate. The way Trump framed his argument is deceptive, however. Politifact found that, “Government data show that despite a 440 percent increase in migrants, crime among that group only increased by 79 percent last year.” The increase in aggregate number of crimes committed in Germany was to be expected. If a million people migrate to a country it follows logically that crime rates would increase, but the numbers show that the average natural born German citizen is still more likely to commit a crime than an immigrant.
Low crime rates among immigrants aren’t a phenomenon unique to Germany. Countless studies have found immigrants in the U.S. are much less likely to commit crimes than a natural born U.S. citizen. As noted in the Wall Street Journal article, “for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants.”
Also slightly misleading is the connotation of the word ‘crime.’ A large portion of the crime rates is nonviolent and relatively trivial crime. One German newspaper found the majority of crimes committed by refugees involved riding public transit without paying and petty theft, like shoplifting. They found less than 1% of crimes committed by refugees were sex crimes. A sizable portion of the increase in violent crime is actually crime directed at refugees. Three times as many violent crimes were carried out against German refugees in 2015 than in 2014.
Germany is undoubtedly having some difficulty settling all of their 1.1 million Syrian refugees, but expecting a completely smooth resettlement of that many people to a country half the size of Texas is unrealistic. The two states in America that accept the most refugees are both larger than Germany, and neither of those states have come anywhere close to accepting a million refugees in a year. Accepting 10,000 Syrians is something the United States is more than prepared to do and inarguably has the space to accommodate.
5. What about the threat they pose to national security?
The ‘threat to national security’ argument is born out of ignorance and the fear of Middle Easterners cultivated by outlets like Fox News.The resettlement process begins with the U.N. prescreening those seeking refugee status. If an individual meets the legal definition required to achieve refugee status, the U.N. then decides whether or not resettlement is the best option. If the U.N. does determine resettlement is necessary, they will recommend the case to the U.S. government. Then, refugees face the most stringent and well vetted immigration process America has to offer. It lasts on average 18-24 months, during which refugees face multiple security screenings and background checks; and their biometric data is run through several databases. These security protocols are carried out by the Department of Homeland Security, multiple intelligence agencies, the State Department, and the FBI. If you don’t trust that the vetting process is an effective way to weed out terrorism, it stands to reason that the U.S. should shut its borders down entirely because refugee resettlement is the most difficult way to enter the country.
The effectiveness of the vetting process is clearly demonstrated by the numbers. Since 9/11, only 3 refugees have been charged for plotting terrorist acts. This report found that, "From 1975 through 2015, the chance that an American would be killed in a terrorist attack committed by a refugee was 1 in 3.64 billion a year." To put that in perspective, an American has a nearly 6 times greater chance of winning the Powerball than dying in a terrorist attack committed by a refugee.
This fallacy is one of Trump’s largest concerns about displaced Syrians. It’s infuriating and unsurprising, to learn that nearly everything he’s said about the refugee crisis is incorrect right down to the demographic information he’s spouted off:
“And when you look at that migration, it's very unusual. I look at it and I see so many men and they are young. They look like they should be on the wrestling team. And they are young and they're strong and you don't see that many women, that many children. It's sort of a weird deal. It's the migration. You see all these young, strong people and they are mostly men and I say what's going on.” — Donald Trump
Trump is clearly trying to strengthen the national security argument by asserting that most Syrian refugees are men of fighting age. This is a downright lie. Data distributed by the UN reveals that half of all Syrian refugees are women, half of all Syrian refugees are under the age of 17, and of that underage half 38.5% are under the age of 12. These are the people Donald Trump wants America to fear: women and children who’ve had their lives destroyed by the terrorists from whom he so adamantly claims to be protecting us.
6. But if you had a bowl of Skittles and one was poisoned would you eat the Skittles?
This poor attempt at a thought experiment offers absolutely nothing of value to the discussion. It is simplifying the issue into terms that don’t allow the consideration of all the nuance and complexity surrounding the refugee crisis. It frames the discussion completely incorrectly. It ignores all of the data, studies, and analysis that demonstrate refugees are not a national security threat. Perhaps worst of all, it encourages the dehumanization of people for convenience.
7. Why here?
Mounted inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a plaque that reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” — Emma Lazarus
Deeply ingrained into American culture is the idea that America is a melting pot. That metaphor is a direct reference to the assimilation of immigrants into the country. Several of America’s original colonies were founded by people seeking refuge from religious persecution. Over and over again American public education hammers on the point that the Holocaust must not be forgotten lest it be repeated. That being said, countless Jewish refugees were turned away during World War II on the basis of the rhetoric and fear surrounding today’s refugee crisis. America has entered countless conflicts in the name of introducing democracy to people in need around the world, yet when they are begging America for refuge, America turns its back. So why here? Maybe because if America allows fear of terrorism to dictate its humanitarian efforts, then it has become the victim of terrorism. Perhaps to provide human beings with a chance at a good life and a shot at the American dream with no threat to national security and fairly negligible cost. Maybe because the foundation of this country begins to crumble when American citizens reject the core belief system that so many claim makes America great.
Donald Trump’s well known battle cry of “Make America great again!” is a farce. A country with a political agenda driven by ignorance, fear, and hatred cannot ascend to greatness. On January 20th, 2017 an administration built on a foundation of ignorance, fear, and hatred will take control of the White House. On that day the fight for fair treatment of refugees falls upon us. Do not be silent. Do not be bashful. Educate the uneducated, and more importantly, let your voice be heard. Contact your elected officials and let them know that you will not tolerate xenophobia. The lives of thousands of innocent Syrians may very well depend on it.
